Israeli jets attack Syrian research centre: Syrian army

Israeli jets have attacked a "military research centre" near Damascus, killing two people, according to Syrian state TV.

"Israeli fighter jets violated our airspace at dawn today and carried out a direct strike on a scientific research centre in charge of raising our level of resistance and self-defence," the army's general command said in a statement carried by state news agency SANA.

The strike came "after terrorist groups made several failed attempts in the past months to take control of the site" at Jamraya, the statement added, referring to rebel groups fighting the regime of president Bashar al-Assad.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz, citing unnamed US officials, said the attack was aimed at a convoy carrying "'game-changing' strategic weapons" to a Shiite militant group.

The AFP news agency said security officials said Israeli aircraft carried out the bombing raid on a weapons convoy heading out of Syria. But it said it was unclear if the strike took place in Syrian or Lebanese territory.

The Syrian army has denied those claims.

Israel has expressed concern that Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons could fall into the hands of Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah group, an ally of the Damascus regime, or other militant organisations.

Israeli officials have said such that a transfer would be likely to spark an Israeli attack.

Addressing the International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria in Kuwait City, UN chief Ban Ki-moon had called for urgent financial aid, warning that if funds were not forthcoming "more Syrians will die".

"The situation in Syria is catastrophic," he said as he urged all parties to the conflict to "stop the killings".

Mr Ban said that based on UN reports, half of Syria's hospitals and a quarter of its schools had been destroyed and other vital infrastructure had been badly affected.

He stressed that humanitarian assistance alone would not resolve the crisis, which he said required a political solution.

Host Kuwait was first to make a pledge, offering $300 million, followed by similar promises from other oil-rich Gulf states - Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

"I am pleased to announce that pledges have exceeded the target... more than $1.5 billion have been pledged including the $184 million pledged by non-governmental organisations," Mr Ban told a news conference in Kuwait.

The United Nations says more than 60,000 people have been killed in Syria's 22-month conflict, which erupted in March 2011 with peaceful protests but morphed into an armed insurgency after a harsh regime crackdown.